Meteor F.4 EE531 is now one of the “stars” at the Midland Air Museum.
A number of references – including, I think, the Form 700 – state this aircraft was used in folding wing trials looking into possible ship-board use of the Meteor.
After the Midland A.P.S. first dismantled it at Lasham in 1972 it was re-assembled, taken apart again, moved, re-assembled, etc. We were eventually able to dismantle, load onto a single 40ft artic., move, unload and re-assemble all in one day. We joked that the aeroplane did more miles on the back of a lorry than it had in the air.
We got to know the airframe fairly well but never saw anything in the structure to suggest it had ever been modified to folding wing status.
Does anyone out there have photos of a Meteor with folded wings that could be EE531?
Roger Smith
By: Malcolm Payne - 5th May 2005 at 20:26
I was an apprentice at Gloster’s from 1949 to 1954 and I never came across such a mod and no-one ever mentioned it.
By: RPSmith - 5th May 2005 at 19:22
Wouldn’t the wings give a hint if they had been chopped (unless they were chopped and replaced)?
Flood
That’s what I meant Flood – there appears to be no physical evidence of any structural alteration/replacement.
Roger Smith.
By: Michel Lemieux - 4th May 2005 at 20:36
You will like this one then
http://www.unrealaircraft.com/fowler/index.php
Great web site BTW
By: Flood - 4th May 2005 at 17:42
Not heard of a folding wing Meteor, not for the Fleet Air Arm anyway.
The only Meteors to land and (presumably) take off from RN aircraft carriers were F3s EE337 and EE387, neither of which appear to have investigated the concept of folding wings onboard ship – or anywhere else. The fact that such an early mark was used (this was the late 40s early 50s) rather than an F8, for example, makes me feel that the Meteor was used to prove the idea of jets on carriers rather than pushing for the carrier-capable Meteor as a production version.
Wouldn’t the wings give a hint if they had been chopped (unless they were chopped and replaced)?
Flood
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May 4, 2005 at 5:01 pm